Nauset Regional High School graduates 202

Tuesday

Jun 11, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 11, 2013 at 11:16 AM

Logan Alexander Wells, class president, opened the ceremony, recounting the school’s “terrific achievements,” something “that makes me proud to not only be a student of Nauset, but a member of this class.”

Marilyn Miller

Honks, hollers, and happy shouts greeted the 202 graduates of Nauset Regional High School Sunday as they made their way past the bleachers and down the aisles to stand at the front of the gym to welcoming applause.

Mothers and fathers left their seats and stood in the aisles, with their smartphones positioned to catch a photo of their graduate as they made their way to the stage to the traditional “Pomp and Circumstance.”

“There she is!” one mother shouted out in excitement as her daughter slowed her step to flash her a smile.

Logan Alexander Wells, class president, opened the ceremony, recounting the school’s “terrific achievements,” something “that makes me proud to not only be a student of Nauset, but a member of this class.”

He said he could imagine, over the next 20 years, “ a consistent stream of news announcing how one member of this class is advocating for equal rights, how another continues to light up the playing field, or another is launching their own fashion line, or opening on Broadway.”

Aubrey McDonough, in her salutatory address, recalled the “panicky feeling” she had on arriving for her first day of high school four years ago. “It may feel like the blink of an eye, but we’ve spent a lot of time here – 4, 680 hours to be exact. I did the math. That’s 195 consecutive days of nothing but school, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, no bathroom breaks.

“I look around me and see kids who are no longer kids, but young adults who are going to college, in the armed forces, and into the working world… One day we’ll be watching our own children graduate, maybe in this very gym. We’ve come a long way, but we we’ve got a long way to go.”

After selections from the Honors Chorus, Davis Harnett, valedictorian, said, “You’ve been lucky to hear Aubrey, the best writer our grade has to offer, and Logan, surely our greatest speaker, and now you are stuck with me,” the student with the highest grade point average.

“I can tell you to go out there and change the world and cure disease and leave a mark on history, but do you know how many billions of people there have been who haven’t done that? The odds are not in your favor. But if you can close your eyes at night with a sense of satisfaction then you can consider yourself successful.”

He advised his classmates “A lot of the world out there can be rough. You will find yourselves at times frustrated, depressed, disheartened or unmotivated. It is inevitable. But we only live once and it is a short life. It may seem like eternity now, but so did high school four years ago. Here I am telling you that life is short and difficult and prepared to beat you up at every turn. But that’s no reason to not walk out of here smiling. If anything, it’s just the opposite. Your first step from this gym is your first step toward true happiness. The training wheels are off now and we’re on our own.”